


The Mystery of the Orpheus City Mines

by Missy_Pixels



Series: Section 13 [1]
Category: Star Trek
Genre: Gen, Paranormal Investigators, Starfleet Intelligence, paranormal investigation unit, section 13 verse, tng era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-11
Updated: 2017-12-11
Packaged: 2019-02-13 11:31:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12983145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Missy_Pixels/pseuds/Missy_Pixels
Summary: Orpheus City is the largest city on the dark side of Luna, Earth's moon. For the past few months children have been disappearing during the night, only to be seen running and playing on the barren surface, unprotected against the deadly lack of atmosphere, until they're mysteriously returned unharmed 2 days later.That is until one of the taken children never returns.Section 13 operates deep within the underground network of Starfleet Intelligence. Their mission, to investigate the paranormal and explain that which is unexplainable.





	The Mystery of the Orpheus City Mines

**Author's Note:**

> Something I've been wanting to write for a while now, what if Starfleet had a paranormal investigation unit? Many thanks to [Rosencrantz](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosencrantz) and [Kimra](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Kimra) for all the help and feedback!
> 
> Moon brush created by [hawksmont](https://hawksmont.deviantart.com/).

_Orpheus City, Luna. Stardate 39115.6. Second day of night._

 

The europium mining shaft, once the only reason for a permanent colony on Luna, now sat abandoned beneath what was now Orpheus City. As usual, the giant network of tunnels lay still and silent except near the top entrance, where two small figures made their way carefully down the steel staircase towards the dark caves below.

"We shouldn't be here," said a small blonde girl with a blue ribbon tied around her ponytail.

"Just leave if you're scared," the little boy ahead of her said. He was slightly taller with black hair and vivid green eyes.

The little girl glared and caught up to him. "I'm not scared!" she insisted. 

The boy ignored her, stopping suddenly as he reached a large black tunnel leading away from the main shaft. It was dark and still and silent, and impossibly large from the perspective of the two small children.

"We should go back," said the girl. "You wanted to see the mine, now we've seen it and we should go back."

The boy grinned. "You are scared." Then he sang, "Lily Mendez is afraid of the dark."

"I am not!" she said, but the boy kept singing. "I am not, I am not, I AM NOT," she screamed.

 

_I am not_

 

_I am not_

 

The girl's voice echoed throughout the mineshaft. She froze, terrified she'd been heard. But once the echo died down, all she could hear was the sounds of her and her friend's breathing.

The boy laughed at her again, then started into the tunnel. "Come on, let's see what's in here."

It was so dark in the tunnel, the girl couldn't see more than a couple metres in front of her. "I don't think we should," she said.

The boy took a few steps in anyways, ignoring her. 

"Taylor Callaghan, I'm serious," she said. Her fear quickly turning into anger. "I'll tell on you."

"There's nothing here," said the boy, going in deeper. Then he sang, " _Lily Mendez is afraid of the dark_ "

"Taylor, this isn't funny anymore. Come out!" she cried when he'd disappeared completely into the darkness of the tunnel. "Taylor!"

Then suddenly there was a flash of blue light and the singing abruptly stopped. Lily Mendez kept yelling, but no matter long or how loudly she cried, the tunnel remained dark and still. And all she could hear was the faint echo of her own voice.

_Starfleet headquarters, San Francisco, Earth. Stardate 39117_

 

"Lt. Thetos Ky'so," Admiral Krell read off her data PADD. She was a very large, no nonsense Bolian who looked like she would rather be anywhere than where she actually was at any given moment. Beside her, a small dog with a horn slept peacefully in the warm office, occasionally twitching its legs in its sleep.

The admiral looked up and took in the Andorian Lieutenant standing at attention in her office. He was tall and like most Andorians, deceptively slim. _All arms and legs really_ , she thought to herself. The early morning sun from her office window caught the bit of fuzz on his antennae turning it from blue to yellow.

"You have a very impressive service record," she continued. "I'm particularly impressed with your record as an investigator. I feel like Section 13 will be a very good fit for you."

"Yes, sir," Thetos answered, though the admiral detected just a hint of Andorian arrogance in that reply. "To be quite honest, sir, when I put in for a transfer, it had been my hope I might land in a more, well… respectable department within starfleet intelligence."

"More respectable?" repeated Admiral Krell, confirming she had heard him correctly.

Thetos' cheeks and antennae flushed orange but he pushed ahead, determined. "I just feel as though my skills could be put to better use than chasing monsters in transporter beams," he said in a hurry before he lost his confidence. "Sir." he added quickly as an afterthought.

Admiral Krell frowned. 

"It is rather unusual for an officer to request a transfer before he's even begun his first day." Her voice had the slightest of of a warning for a young officer she saw as dangerously close to stepping out of line. But Thetos looked resolute. Krell sighed. "I am aware Section 13 has a reputation for being something of a fringe department, Lieutenant, but I assure you they do much more than simply chase imaginary monsters."

Thetos at least had the good sense to look sheepish. "Perhaps that is true," he allowed, "but I would still prefer a transfer."

"I suppose if that's how you feel, Lieutenant," said Admiral Krell not bothering to conceal her disappointment. "It will take a few days for your transfer to go through. In the meantime, Section 13 is still short an investigator. Do you think you can tolerate working for us until then?" Her voice dripped with sarcasm. 

Thetos fought down another orange flush. "Yes, sir."

The turbolift seemed to descend for ages and Thetos found himself wondering just how deep within the underground network underneath Federation headquarters Section 13 was located. When they finally stopped, Thetos found himself stepping into a partially finished basement, with a roof so low he had to keep his antennae stalks pointed down to avoid brushing the ceiling.

The dog, Thetos now knew was named Revelstoke, trotted contentedly ahead, leading Thetos and Admiral Krell to a pair of rusted metal doors. Revelstoke jumped up, leaning his front paws against the doors and yipped until they opened. 

A young Trill in a Yeoman's uniform step through, and crouched down to pet Revelstoke behind the ears. 

He smiled up at Thetos and Krell. Then stood up and held out his hand to Thetos, the same hand, to Thetos' horror, that had just been petting Revelstoke. 

"You must be the new investigator!" said the Trill cheerfully. "I'm Ebran." Thetos took his hand cautiously, and Ebran clasped it firmly and shook it. 

Thetos discreetly pulled out a small handkerchief with a disinfecting agent from his pocket and wiped down his hand.

"Lieutenant Thetos," he said primly.

"Yeoman Joyal, why are you down here?" asked Krell impatiently.

Ebran held up a mug in his other hand. "I had to bring Lieutenant Diaz her coffee, sir."

Krell let out a long suffering sigh. "You may recall, Yeoman, how we've discussed that you do not work for Lieutenant Diaz, in fact you are not even assigned to Section 13. You are my Yeoman, and I have work for you at my office."

"I understand sir, but she asked and technically I'm not due to report in to your office for another 20 minutes," said Ebran brightly.

Admiral Krell simply pinched her nose in frustration.

"Let's just go in," she said.

Thetos stepped through the rusted steel doors and paused. Section 13 wasn't what he expected and somehow still exactly what he expected. The entire department was one large windowless room. It had two desks on opposite sides: one--presumably his--was bare, while the other was a mess of haphazardly abandoned data PADDs and strange objects Thetos couldn't quite identify.

Off to one side was a computer terminal so old the last time Thetos had seen one of that model, he'd still been in grade school. And in the back corner was a replicator that seemed to be dripping something liquid and brown with a mug out to catch it that read ' _I want to believe_.'

Thetos was grateful he wouldn't be here long.

The steel doors opened again, and Thetos turned around and suddenly found himself face-to-face with a human woman. Well face-to-face he thought was generous. She was a full foot shorter than him. She had dark features and was dressed in the less fashionable, though still regulation, skirt version of her starfleet uniform. She also had around her wrist and ankles orbital jewelry, which combined with a beehive updo, gave her a rather old fashioned look

Her eyes widened, like she was surprised to actually find other people here. "Admiral," she said.

Ignored, Revelstoke ran excited, tail wagging, back and forth between her ankles. 

"Lieutenant Diaz, you're late," said Admiral Krell sternly.

"Yeah, well the shuttle was late," Diaz said in a tone that Thetos thought bordered on insubordination. She walked past Thetos and took the mug of coffee from Ebran, making him beam when she thanked him, then leaned against her desk and took a long grateful sip.

"You could just take the transporter, like every other starfleet officer," suggested Admiral Krell.

"Yeah, and give Starfleet access to my current molecular structure, I think I'll pass," scoffed Diaz.

Thetos blinked and wondered if he'd heard that correctly. The idea that Stafleet was maliciously collecting its officers molecular structures was a straight up conspiracy theory. He turned to Admiral Krell. He honestly wondered how she could have ever thought they would make good partners.

Admiral Krell for her part looked like she just wanted this conversation to be over so she could go back to do actual important work. 

"Lt. Thetos Ky'so, your partner for the next few days, Lt. Alondra Diaz," said Krell, turning her attention back to Thetos. "You have my sincerest apologies."

The mission briefing Krell handed them before she left was irritatingly vague.

"They usually are," Diaz explained as they made their way to the shuttle bay. "People are embarrassed to say what they really saw. But they saw something or the case never would have made it to us."

"That seems like a reach," said Thetos.

Diaz just shrugged. 

Thetos climbed into the co-pilot's seat of the shuttle, relieved to find _it_ at least was up to code. The console shined like new, without a hint of rust or decay.

"You don't seem particularly bothered by the fact I'm only here for a few days," he commented.

"Most people can't hack working in this department," said Diaz absently while she started preflight. "Don't worry about it."

Thetos straightened and his antennae stiffened. "Excuse me?"

"It's no big deal," continued Diaz. "Some people don't like dealing with things that go bump in the night on a regular basis."

"That's not the reason, it's--" Thetos stopped suddenly, realising what he had been about to say. 

"You don't have to hold back," said Diaz, stopping the pre-flight for a moment and turning her chair to look directly at Thetos. "I know you don't like me."

"We just met," said Thetos. 

"Doesn't mean anything."

Thetos frowned, antennae pointing forward suspiciously. But Diaz looked serious. More serious than Thetos had seen her yet.

"If you must know, you're right," said Thetos. "I have known you for less than an hour, and already I find you unprofessional, disrespectful, and frankly I question your sanity if you can take a department like this one seriously at all."

"You done?" asked Diaz. She didn't look offended, merely bored.

Thetos nodded.

"I don't care if you like me," she said. "I don't care what you think about me or this department. People think I can't see the world around me, I promise you, I see it pretty well. I know Section 13 is the running joke of Starfleet Intelligence and all its agents. And headquarters agrees, we get almost no funding, no recognition, no support staff, and the highest staff turnover of any department. 

"Lieutenant, do you know why I get away with being unprofessional? Because not only am I the only agent they've found who will do this job in the last 5 years, I'm pretty damn good at it. You don't have to like me, you don't have to like working here. But for the next few days we are partners, and I expect you to do your job to the best of your abilities and show me the respect I deserve while you're at it."

Thetos' antennae stocks stiffened. He never liked reprimands, especially from an officer who was only half a rank higher than him. But she was still technically his superior, and unlike Diaz, Thetos had a healthy respect for starfleet etiquette. 

"Yes, sir," he said. 

Diaz surprised Thetos by smiling. "Good, I'm glad we've cleared the air," she said cheerily as she returned to preflight. 

"You know, I don't think that jewelry is regulation," Thetos pointed to her orbital jewelry, just to be petty.

"No, Admiral Krell forgot to tell me to take it off," agreed Diaz as she started the shuttle's engines and the shuttle bay doors began to open. "I guess she was in a good mood."

_Orpheus City, Luna. Stardate 39117.2. Fourth day of night._

 

Upon arriving at the Lunar colonies, Thetos and Diaz were immediately met by a small man who looked almost embarrassed to see them as he shook both their hands.

"I'm Amir Samara, the assistant Reeve for Orpheus Prime," he introduced himself as Thetos sanitized his hand. "Thanks for coming on such short notice."

Thetos nodded.

"What seems to be the problem?" asked Diaz seriously.

"Yes, well..." Samara started. He ran his hands through his long curly hair, looking embarrassed all over again.

"Whatever it is, I guarantee we've seen stranger," said Diaz.

Samara looked back at Diaz skeptically, and Thetos noticed offhandedly that they were almost the exact same height.

"If you say so," said Samara, but he seemed more open at least. He sighed, "come with me please."

Samara led them out of the hangar into the main halls of the city.

Thetos was momentarily overwhelmed, he hadn't anticipated either the size or the amount of people he saw moving to and fro through the various levels and corridors and in and out of various ports. Thetos had expected something like a large space station, but this felt more like an enclosed city. 

Samara saw the look on Thetos' face and smiled. "Orpheus is the third largest city on Luna," he explained proudly. "After Tycho City and New Berlin. And the largest on Luna's Dark Side. It started as a mining colony and expanded into what you finally see here."

"Luna's Dark Side?" Diaz repeated.

"Well it's a bit of a misnomer, really," said Samara. "Our day and night cycles are the same no matter where you live on Luna. But Orpheus faces away from Earth, so our nights tend to be quite a bit darker."

Thetos turned his attention to the transparent aluminum that walled the city, so pitch black that it reflected Thetos perfectly. "I hear day and night cycles are quite long on Luna compared to Earth."

"Yes," agreed Samara. "A single night here is approximately the equivalent of 14 Earth days. It does take newcomers a bit to get used to, especially around this time. You see our night cycle has only just began."

Samara led them down through the main plaza and into a side corridor towards his office. This corridor was much quieter and Thetos noted the three of them were the only ones present as he listened to their footsteps echo through the large corridor. "The report says there is a child missing," asked Diaz, getting back to business.

"Yes," Samara agreed. "We're all quite worried, we're glad you came so soon."

Diaz nodded. "The report said he's been missing since stardate: 39115, but it wasn't reported for another 2 days. Is there a reason for that?"

"Ah yes, well..." Samara seemed suddenly fascinated by the pitch blackness outside. "You see… we expected him to come back."

Thetos and Diaz exchanged a confused look.

"Come back?" Thetos asked.

"All the other children did," said Samara.

"The other children?" asked Diaz slowly. 

"Taylor Callaghan is actually the eighth child to go missing. But every other child reappeared within 26 hours."

Thetos and Diaz both paused for a moment as they took that in.

"Did they say where they were?" asked Thetos, choosing to ask the obvious question.

"Yes, they said they were in a garden," said Samara. "With a river and a bridge. But I mean, there's no rivers on Luna. Not even artificial ones."

"I assume you've scanned for the children, including Taylor," said Diaz.

"Of course we did," said Samara. "There was never any sign of them. The only thing--" Samara suddenly stopped. "Nevermind," he said. "It makes no sense."

"Mr Samara, with all due respect, things that ‘make no sense' is what Section 13 does," said Diaz.

Samara met her serious eyes and smiled, almost awkwardly. He nodded. "Alright, but mind you I never saw this for myself. But there have been a few reports, maybe a dozen or so, of people seeing the missing children on the lunar surface."

Both Diaz and Thetos instinctively glanced at the black windows. "You mean outside the compound?" Thetos clarified. 

"Like I said, it makes no sense," said Samara. "There's no atmosphere on Luna, the children were seen running and playing without any kind of suit on. They would have died."

"Has anyone seen Taylor out there?" Diaz asked.

Samara shook his head. "No, there hasn't been any sightings for weeks."

"We'll need to talk to Taylor's guardians. And the other children who went missing and were returned, especially the ones who were spotted as astral projections. We also need to arrange for a surface walk."

Samara nodded, "All of that can be arranged."

"I'd also like to see the area Taylor disappeared," said Diaz. "And the report mentioned a young girl who was with him at the time?"

"Lily Mendez," Samara clarified. "She's quite shaken up over the incident."

Diaz nodded, "I understand, but it's important we talk to her too."

"Of course," agreed Samara. "I'll arrange it."

After reviewing the local files, Samara had suggested they begin with the Orpheus City History Museum. A small museum and archive located on the former site of the original mines, dedicated to the early history of Luna's settlement.

"Astral projections," said Thetos. He gave a small chuckle as the two of them weaved through a small exhibit on ancient Earth lunar rovers. "You know, for just a moment back there you almost came across as a proper investigator."

"I am a proper investigator," answered Diaz impatiently.

"Who believes in astral projections," repeated Thetus smugly.

"Astral projections have been documented on Earth as far back as the Egyptian Empire," said Diaz.

"There's zero scientific basis," countered Thetos.

"Multiple unrelated witnesses saw these children playing, unprotected on the Lunar surface," said Diaz. "These children who did not remember being there and showed no signs of having been out there once found. How else would you explain that?"

"Mass hallucinations," said Thetos after a moment's thought. "The images of the missing children would have been displayed across the entire colony. In a colony this size, it is entirely possible that a small handful of people might have been experiencing enough stress over the missing children, or even other factors in their lives, such as the unusually long nights that occur on this moon, that they looked out a window and imagined they saw the children there."

Diaz surprised Thetos by snorting. "And you accuse me of reaching," she said. "Next you'll be telling me it was light reflected off Venus."

Thetos frowned, following Diaz into the main area of the museum. "Well I certainly wouldn't rule that out," he said. And tried to think if he knew exactly where Venus' orbit had been during the last sighting.

"As many of you know, Orpheus began life as an Earth mining colony in the 22nd century. Back then Earth followed a capitalist economic system, similar in many ways to the system currently used by modern day Ferengi. And in order to justify extraterrestrial colonies, they needed to turn a profit, thus the Orpheus Mining Colony was proposed."

Thetos followed the voice to the young tour guide, An Nguyen. Taylor's mother.

"This area of the moon is quite rich in both europium and tantalum, two elements that were rare on Earth at the time," she continued, walking a small group of visitors through displays showing photographs, and a bit further along, holoimages of the early mines that flickered in and out from age. Thetos and Diaz quietly stepped into line at the back of the group.

"The early colonies on Luna have always been considered something of an achievement. Completely self-sufficient cities, built on a satellite devoid of any atmosphere at a time before Terrans had even finished exploring their own star system.

"What Terrans have learned from building these colonies created the basis of every major space achievement since: from the early Mars colonies before the planet was terraformed, to the early Europa colonies, to paving the way for starships suitable for interstellar flight."

Thetos had learned about the early Lunar colonies in school, including Orpheus. Some of these holoimages he remembered being displayed on the computer interfaces back home. And if he looked out the window he could look down and see an old mining site lit up for curious visitors on Luna's quiet surface.

Now he could see it, Thetos marvelled at the fact that it was only a few inches of transparent aluminum separating him from the cold barren surface outside. He felt like there should have been a wind blowing the moon dust around. But of course there was none. Barely visible from the high angle where he stood were large rubber tire tracks, made from obsolete vehicles before reliable hover technology had been invented.

If Thetos remembered his history right, those tire tracks, looking as fresh as if they'd been made hours ago, were at least 200 years old. He felt a chill looking at them.

Diaz and Thetos waited for Nguyen to finish her tour before approaching her.

"That was a very good tour," Diaz commented. "Growing up on Mars, I've always found the history of the early colonies fascinating."

Nguyen smiled, though Thetos caught something sad behind it.

"I'm surprised you're working," he commented.

"Yeah well, it's either go out and do my job or sit around in an empty home all day waiting for a com," she said.

"This must be very difficult for you," said Diaz sympathetically. "We just have a few questions."

"Yes, of course," said Nguyen eagerly. "Why don't we go talk in my office."

Nguyen's office was small already, but messy stacks of data PADDs and datafiles and a disorganized haphazard layout made it feel even more cramped and claustrophobic.

"Sorry about the mess," said Nguyen as she picked up a handful of padds, clearing a couple of chairs off for Thetos and Diaz to sit. "I wish I could say it wasn't usually like this..." she added with a small deprecating smile.

"You're the museum curator?" asked Diaz.

"And educator, and docent, and part time exhibit designer," said Nguyen wryly. "When Sepek's too busy to do it. Other than some part time help with the some of the students it's pretty much just the two of us here."

"That must keep you quite busy," said Thetos.

"Yeah, honestly a little too busy," agreed Nguyen. "I was actually thinking of quitting, taking a part time position back on Earth so I could spend more time with Taylor."

Nguyen sighed, dropped her data PADDs absently on her desk and sat down. She suddenly looked very tired. 

"Does Taylor spend a lot of time here at the museum?" asked Diaz.

"Yeah, when he's not at school or with his friends," said Nguyen. "He loves the old mines, though obviously he's not allowed into the actual mineshaft. If I'd known he was planning on going down there…" She went quiet.

"What about his father?" asked Diaz. "The records show you're divorced."

"Yeah," said Nguyen. "Look, Alex is a good dad, but he works more than I do, just the nature of working for one of the largest tech companies in the system."

Diaz nodded. "How did Taylor gain access to the mineshaft?" she asked.

"My access code. He has it for emergencies," said Nguyen. "The mineshaft is accessible through the museum, though only Sepek and I have access codes. Those mines are over 200 years old, they're not safe."

Diaz glanced towards the locked circular door that lead to the ancient mineshaft, visible through Nguyen's office window. "Would it be all right if we had a look?"

The Orpheus mineshaft felt unnaturally silent and still to Thetos as he and Diaz made their way through down towards the tunnel. Thetos heard a small creak and turned to see an old lift still hanging in the same place it had been the last 200 years. It looked unstable, worn with time, and it seemed impossible that it was once used daily.

"So you're from Mars," Thetos said offhandedly while he pulled out his tricorder. "I should have guessed you were an off-worlder, weird ideas like yours."

Diaz looked back at Thetos half-amused before turning her attention back to her own tricorder. "What part of Earth are you from?"

"Greenland."

"I should have guessed," she said with a grin.

"What? Why?"

"It seems like every Andorian I meet from Earth belongs to the colony on the Greenland, that's all," said Diaz. "Don't read into it."

"I'm not reading into it," sniffed Thetos, "I'm just--wait who do you know from the Greenland colony?"

Diaz didn't answer and when Thetos looked over he saw she was frowning at her tricorder. "What is it?" he asked.

"My readings are all over the place," said Diaz.

Thetos looked down at his own tricorder. "There's still a lot of tantalum in these mines," said Thetos piecing it together. "Tantalum while quite useful once purified in its raw form is well known to be quite disruptive to other technologies, including scanners, most forcefield technology, most holoimaging projection technology, communica--"

"So you're saying that any kids in these mines wouldn't be picked up by any scanners," said Diaz, interrupting Thetos mid-word. 

Thetos frowned, then he thought about what she said and felt his heart sink. "Diaz, have you considered that Taylor Callaghan's disappearance may not be linked to the other children? That perhaps he simply got lost in the tunnels, or fell down a shaft?"

The hard look on Diaz' face told Thetos that she'd been thinking the same thing. "They did a search," she said to Thetos. "Samara detailed it for his log, I thought it was odd doing a foot search, though this explains why. But these tunnels are hundreds of kilometers deep, it's impossible to search them all."

Thetos turned and looked down a pitch black tunnel in the cave wall beside him and wondered where it led. The deep stillness of it made the fur on his antennae stand on edge.

Thetos and Diaz managed to find a small replimat off-centre of the main plaza for lunch. Replicators weren't Thetos' favourite way to eat, but he'd gladly take the familiar, if somewhat bland, food from a replicator than risk whatever strange food was popular on Luna.

When he sat down at their table, Diaz was eating a rations bar while she looked through case notes on a data PADD.

"You know, there's replicators," said Thetos. 

"I don't trust replicators," said Diaz absently, not taking her eyes off her data PADD. "The federation uses them to add chemicals to our food to keep us complacent and happy."

"That's ridiculous," said Thetos.

Diaz glanced over at Thetos, than at his food. "I can see why you think that," she said evenly.

Thetos opened his mouth to argue, but before he could think of a suitable reply, Diaz interrupted him.

"I think we need to interview Taylor's father," she said. She glanced back up at Thetos, "unless you'd rather argue about replicators."

Thetos frowned. And forced himself to focus back on the case. He reminded himself that he only had to put up with this crazy department for a couple of days. "Why do we need to interview the father?" he asked. "He barely saw Taylor, this seems unnecessary."

"I think it's always prudent to get a full picture," said Diaz. She referred back to her data PADD, "Besides, the father interests me, as does Lunaris Tech. The technology firm he works for here, it's one of the most competitive in the star system. They even have a Starfleet contract."

"What does that have to with anything?" asked Thetos.

"Not much except that it's unusual for a place like this in the middle of nowhere. And since there's something very unusual going on, it makes sense to explore that which is unusual."

Thetos frowned. "I don't see anything unusual here, I think you're looking for something in which no strong evidence exists" he said. "Ninety-nine time out of a hundred, the most obvious explanation is the correct one," Thetos continued. "Frankly this case seems open and shut to me."

Before Diaz could answer, a shadow appeared over the table and they both looked up to see Samara hovering over the table.

"If you'd like to talk to Lily Mendez, this would be a good time," he said.

Diaz and Thetos both nodded and followed him through the residential quarters of the colonies.

"One thing you are going to learn very quickly from this job," said Diaz quietly as they walked through the busy corridors, "is that you should never presume a case solved before the investigation is finished."

Thetos' first thought was that civilian quarters were nicer than the Starfleet ones he had seen for humans. He supposed a stationary colony allowed for quite a few more luxuries than a starship, or even temporary Earth housing. It was rather spacious, and had much more of a feeling lived in. In fact, it felt to him a lot like the Andorian colonies in Greenland. Like a home.

A large woman answered the door. She had very black hair and circles under her eyes like she'd been having trouble sleeping lately. 

"Yes, Samara told me to expect you," she said. "I'm Suzanna Mendez, Lily's mother."

She shook both their hands and ushered them inside.

"Lily's in her room," she said. "I'm afraid she's been quite upset since Taylor's disappearance."

"Understandable," said Diaz.

Suzanna led them down the hall and pressed a button to open one of the doors.

"Mija, there's a someone here to talk to you. Remember I mentioned some agents were coming by today?"

The room remained silent and Suzanna sighed. 

"She's very shy," she said stepping out of the way and letting them enter. "Do your best."

Lily's room was exceptionally tidy for a child's. Even the bed she was sitting on was made with the covers tucked perfectly into the corners. The shelves were lined with stuffed toys and dolls, each one a different federation species. Thetos caught himself staring at the small andorian doll in a traditional red marriage ceremony dress.

Lily herself was holding a vulcan doll tightly to her chest and watching Thetos and Diaz nervously.

Thetos thought for a moment, on how to best proceed. He had very little experience with human children, though at least, he thought, this one seemed more sanitary than most.

Diaz stepped forward first, offering the girl a kind smile.

"Hello, Lily. That's a very nice doll. Does she have a name?"

Lily looked nervously at Diaz for a moment, than at Thetos, than at her mother, before turning her attention back to Diaz and answering, "T'Prilla."

"T'Prilla, that's a really pretty name," said Diaz still smiling. "My name's Alondra, and this is my partner, Ky'so. We're just hoping to ask you a couple of questions about Taylor so we can find him again. Think you can be brave and help us?"

Lily took a moment to think about it before nodding at Diaz.

"Lily, can you tell us what happened in the mineshaft the other day?"

"I told Taylor not to," she said, eyes imploring Diaz. "I told him it was a bad idea."

"I believe you," said Diaz. "Don't worry Lily, you're not in trouble. Can you tell us what Taylor was doing when he disappeared?"

"He was making fun of me," said Lily making face. "He makes me so mad. And then I told him to come back, and then there was a blue light, and he was gone."

Thetos' antennae perked up. That hadn't been in any of the reports.

"A blue light?" Diaz repeated. "Are you sure?"

Lily nodded. "Just for a second and he was gone," she repeated.

Diaz frowned like she was thinking. She looked back at Lily. "That's a very pretty ribbon you have," she said, focusing on a large blue ribbon tied to Lily's ponytail. "I don't suppose you were wearing that when you were in the mineshaft with Taylor."

"Yeah..." said Lily nervously.

Diaz reached for it without thinking, but Lily leaned back out of her reach.

Diaz pulled her hand back and noticed Lily's eyes shift from watching Diaz's hand nervously to the orbital bracelet around her wrist.

"Do you like my bracelet?" asked Diaz.

"It's pretty," Lily confirmed. 

"How about a trade," said Diaz taking off the bracelet. "I'll give you this bracelet if you let me have your ribbon."

Lily frowned like she wasn't sure. But she kept glancing back to Diaz's bracelet and finally she said, "OK."

She pulled the ribbon out of her hair, and grinned as Diaz handed her the bracelet. Even when it looked comically oversized on her tiny wrist.

"Thank you very much, Lily," said Diaz. "You've been very helpful."

"Is there a reason you had to steal that poor girl's ribbon?" asked Thetos when they'd returned to their shuttlecraft.

Diaz had clutched the ribbon tightly the entire way back like she was afraid if she didn't clutch it close to her chest she might lose it.

Now she was excitedly scanning it with the shuttle's scanners. "This ribbon was in the mine with Lily and Taylor," she told Thetos. 

"Yes," he agreed, still not following.

"We couldn't scan the rocks because of the tantalum in the mines," she said. "Which means this is the only way to test if I'm right about that blue light."

"Right about--" Thetos' antennae straightened as he figured out what Diaz was doing. "You think--"

"I know," Diaz interrupted him looking up at the scan results. "There's tachyon particles on this ribbon."

"Taylor didn't get lost in the mines," said Thetos. "He was transported."

"It's actually quite clever," said Diaz excitedly. "Normally the colony's sensors would have logged the transport, but in this case it would have been masked by the tantalum."

Thetos looked from the computer screen down to Diaz. He could begrudgingly admit he was impressed. "You know what this means," he said. "We have a kidnapping case on our hands."

Thetos' mind buzzed as they made their way back through the large walking tunnels of the Orpheus Lunar Colony, as he tried to reconcile this new piece of information with what they'd gathered so far.

"I still don't understand how this lines up with the other children, or if they're even connected at all," said Thetos. "Why would our kidnapper keep Taylor, but release the other children after only two days? Where are they going that has a river and a bridge? Are they being transported all the way back to earth? Is there a ship?"

"Earth is too far away for astral projections," said Diaz seriously.

"Astral projections aren't a real thing," said Thetos impatiently. "Let's focus on the facts we have."

"Alright, what facts should we be focussing on?" asked Diaz.

Thetos thought about it for a moment. "Most kidnappings are committed by a family member, most often a parent," said Thetos. "It would be prudent to interview Taylor's father."

"Let's do it," said Diaz.

After some back and forth, Thetos and Diaz finally managed to meet up with Alexander Callaghan at his personal quarters later that evening.

"Sorry I can be a little hard to reach," said Callaghan, letting them both in. Thetos was surprised to see how harried he looked as he shook their hands. His hair and clothes were dishevelled, he'd obviously not bothered to shave in days, and there were dark pronounced circles under his vivid green eyes. He looked like he hadn't slept properly in a while.

"Please, have a seat, can I get you anything?" asked Callaghan. 

Diaz refused but Thetos asked for some plomeek tea. While Callaghan was in the other room with the replicator, Thetos did a quick scan with his tricorder, but the only people in Callaghan's quarters was two adult Human lifeforms and one Andorian. If Callaghan had Taylor, he wasn't here.

He took a brief look around. Very neat but sparse, almost like it was barely lived in at all. If Thetos hadn't already known, he never would have guessed that there was a child who lived here part time.

"Plomeek tea, can't say I've ever had it myself," said Callaghan returning.

"It's an acquired taste," said Thetos, taking the mug gratefully. "Very good for the Andorian digestive system though."

"Dr Callaghan we'd like to ask you a few questions, please," said Diaz getting them back on track. 

"Anything if it'll help find my son."

Diaz nodded seriously. 

"You share custody with Dr Nguyen?" she asked.

"Yes, that's right," said Callaghan. "It's supposed to be 50/50 though with the amount I work..." he trailed off, Thetos thought he looked rather regretful. "He was supposed to be with his mother when he disappeared. Not that I blame her of course."

"Of course," Diaz reassured him. "You both get along well?"

Callaghan frowned, Thetos guessed he was taken by surprise by the line of questioning. "Reasonably, considering," he said. "I couldn't ask for a better co-parent. Why? What does this have to do with my son?"

Thetos set down his tea. "Dr Callaghan, we have a strong reason to believe someone may have taken your son."

Callaghan's eyes went wide. "You mean, like a kidnapping, you're sure?" 

"Reasonably sure, yes," said Diaz. 

"I'm just trying to figure out if that's better or worse--I was afraid he'd been lost in the mineshaft. And with all the other weird things going on lately..." Callaghan didn't finish the sentence.

"This is very important, Dr Callaghan. Most kidnappings are committed by somebody known to the child. Is there anybody you think--"

"No, no," said Callaghan quickly, "God, everybody loves Taylor. I can't think of anyone who'd go after him like that."

Thetos pursed his lips and tried to phrase his next question as delicately as he could, "Are you aware of any adults who took an… unusual interest in Taylor? Or who seemed overly friendly?"

Callaghan shook his head. "No, definitely not. I mean his teachers love him, but that's pretty normal for a kid as bright as he is."

"Do you think Dr Nguyen might be aware of someone..." Diaz suggested.

"I mean you can ask her, but me and An, we know all the same people."

Diaz nodded. She looked at Thetos to make sure he didn't have any more questions. He shook his head, and Diaz turned back to Callaghan. "Dr Callaghan, can I ask you a couple questions about Lunaris Tech?"

Callaghan frowned again. "What about Lunaris?"

"How long have you been working there?" 

"About 10 years now," said Callaghan. "I got the job right out of school. I couldn't believe it, it was my dream job. With Taylor missing honestly it's all I've got going for me right now."

"Why is Lunaris Tech in Orpheus City?" asked Diaz. 

Callaghan looked as confused by the question as Thetos felt. "Why not?" 

"Surely it would make more sense to be on Earth. Better climate, easier to attract talent, closer to starfleet command who has your biggest contract."

"You've read up on us," said Callaghan looking surprised. "It's mostly about security. We make state of the art technology rival governments like the Romulans or the Klingons would love to get their hands on. By operating in an enclosed colony like Orpheus, Lunaris is able to keep tabs on everyone who comes and goes from the city, on top of state of the art security for the facility itself. No one goes into Lunaris without them knowing it."

"Well if he is our perpetrator, Taylor's nowhere to be found in his quarters," said Thetos as they made their way to their next lead.

"He did seem harried," admitted Diaz. She frowned, obviously as bothered by the lack of obvious suspects as Thetos was. 

"You asked a lot of questions about Lunaris."

"You don't find his connection that company suspicious?" asked Diaz.

"No," said Thetos honestly, "It's a firm that develops technology for Starfleet."

"Technology including transporters," Diaz pointed out. 

"A lot of people have access to transporter technology," Thetos pointed out. "Dr Nguyen does too, transporters are often used to move heavy or delicate displays for the museum. So does everyone in this colony who does technician work or who works on a ship. And if the transporter beam came from Earth, which is also possible, that opens up many many more possible suspects."

"Can we rule out Lunaris though?"

"Lunaris has extremely tight security and heavy oversight from Starfleet," Thetos pointed out. "Shields around the building would make beaming a child there impossible, and there would be a record if he entered any other way."

Diaz' frown deepened and she pursed her lips thinking. "If they beamed the kids to Earth?"

"Why?" asked Thetos. "What would they have to gain by doing that?"

Diaz shook her head. "I don't know, but that kid is somewhere," she said, a determined look in her eyes. 

Thetos pursed his lips. He agreed.

It took some time wandering through the Lunar colony corridors following Samara's vague directions before they finally found the rec area. It was starting to get late and most of the large complex was quiet with dimmed lights. Both Thetos and Diaz' boots clacked loudly, echoing throughout the space.

In the end they found the soccer pitch they were looking for, not from Samara's directions, but from the soft sound of a crowd roaring and a bright white light that pierced through the shadows down one of the far tunnels. 

Thetos squinted as they walked out onto the bright soccer pitch. It was a children's game, players no older than 10, running around on the artificial grass while their parents all sat on the bleachers cheering loudly.

Deborah Cohen was a round looking woman with curly hair and a kind smile. Thetos and Diaz both took a seat on the bleachers beside her and introduced themselves.

Thetos asked her if they could ask her a few questions. Down on the soccer pitch one of the children scored. A bright-eyed Vulcan child who refused to celebrate their goal even as the rest of the kids ran in circles hugging each other. The parents on the other bleacher roared.

"According to reports your son Joshua was missing for approximately 52 hours," said Diaz. 

"That's right," said Cohen. "I went to get him up for school and he wasn't in his bed. His blankets weren't even moved from where they were when he was under them, it was like he evaporated into thin air."

Thetos and Diaz looked at each other, and Thetos knew they were thinking the same thing. _Or like he was transported._

"Then two mornings later I hear a noise in his room," Cohen continued, "and I go check, and there he is, just sitting on his bed grinning up at me."

"Were there any signs he'd been missing? Anything different or unusual about him from before he disappeared? Anything on his clothes? An unusual smell...?"

Cohen shook her head and Thetos noted the artificial whited light bouncing off her curls. "It was my boy," she said. "Exactly like he was when I lost him. He was even still wearing his Flotter and Trevis pyjamas."

"Did he talk at all about where he'd been?" asked Thetos. 

Cohen frowned as she thought back. "Honestly it doesn't make much sense," she said. "He talked about being in some garden outside like he was on Earth. There's nowhere like that on Luna."

"No," Thetos agreed. "Ms Cohen, we've also been informed that while Joshua was missing, he was seen by a number of people outside of the city compound."

"Now that's ridiculous," said Cohen. "I mean I heard it too, but--well he'd die. There's no atmosphere out there."

"He was seen by three separate individuals," Diaz pointed out. 

"I don't know what to tell you," said Cohen, "but there's no way he was out there."

Diaz nodded. "Do you mind if we talk to Joshua?"

Cohen agreed. "I really hope you find him," she told them after the interview, "Joshua and Taylor are such good friends, I know he's putting up a brave face, but I can tell he's as worried as the rest of us."

Once the game had ended, Thetos and Diaz followed Cohen off the bleachers and towards the pitch. 

A tall chubby kid in a green jersey with soft brown curls and a round face rushed to his mother. "Did you see, did you see? We won!" he called as he approached her. Thetos was struck at how exactly Joshua came after his mother, they could almost have been clones.

"I saw," she reassured him. "Joshua, these two starfleet officers are looking for Taylor, they'd like to ask you some questions."

Joshua looked nervously at Thetos and Diaz, even as Diaz crouched down and smiled at him. 

"Uh...OK, I guess," said Joshua. 

"Joshua," said Diaz, "do you think you could describe for me in detail where you were when you disappeared?"

"It was a garden," said Joshua. "There were a lot of flowers and trees, and a big bridge that went over a river. And the river was really clear and you could see fish in the river. It was really nice. I mean, I've been to the botanical gardens in Tycho city, but it was nothing like this."

"Do you know where you were?" asked Diaz. Joshua just shook his head. 

"Any distinguishing landmarks? Anything stand out?" Another headshake. "Did you see anyone else while you were there?"

"Just the other kids," said Joshua.

Diaz and Thetos exchanged a brief look before Diaz turned her attention back to Joshua. "What other kids?"

"You know," said Joshua, "Amber, Lee, Jorge, Michael, Mia."

Thetos' eyes widened when he realised. "Amber Chevalier, Lee Andrews, Jorge Alonzo, Michael Yamaguchi, Mia Thompson, all the children who disappeared before Joshua did."

Diaz looked up at Thetos. "You have that memorized?"

Thetos shrugged. 

Diaz looked impressed. She turned back to Joshua. "Joshua, do you have any recollections of being on the surface of Luna?"

Joshua just looked confused. "Like outside the city walls? I'd die."

"Maybe it wasn't while you were awake," Diaz offered. "Any dreams? Daydreams even?"

But Joshua just shook his head.

"I hate spacewalks," Thetos confessed, fitting into his suit for the moonwalk. He hated the suits too, now he thought about it. Stuffy and closed and who knew who'd worn these suits before them. Thetos was going to need a long sonic shower after this was all over.

"It won't be too bad," Diaz reassured him. "The moon has gravity, should help a lot with the space sickness."

Thetos was skeptical. His stomach flipped uncomfortably, aware of what was coming.

Thetos' suit smelled like rotten eggs and he was fairly certain it hadn't been properly cleaned since the last person who'd used it. Combined with the sickly feeling of jumping across the moon's low gravity surface, he was fairly convinced Diaz had been wrong about the space sickness.

"Just up here," Diaz's tinny voice came in clear through the suit's radio as she leapt over a small crater not far outside the compound.

Thetos followed her and looked down at the ground where they'd stopped.

"Almost all of the dozen sightings of missing children were in the area," she said.

The ground was grey and still, the only disturbances in the thick moon dust was their own heavy footprints and a single set of tire tracks from nearly 200 years ago passing through the area.

"No footprints," said Thetos, stating the obvious. Honestly he'd never really expected to see any. 

Diaz pulled out her tricorder and held it out to scan. "Nothing," she said, voice crackling slightly through the radio. "Moondust, some residual energy readings from the colony. Trace amounts of Europa and Tantalum below the surface. No different than the readings I'd get on any part of Luna."

They were back at the museum now. Now that it was it was a kidnapping they had more questions for Nguyen. She was busy at the moment, finishing up a meeting with Sepek. Diaz took a seat by the door and took out one of her ration bars. She looked over the notes for the case as they waited.

Thetos, never having been one who was good at remaining still, got up and wandered the museum while he let what he knew about the case cycle through his mind. 

The museum felt like a different entity at night, now the tourists and school groups had gone home and the lights had been dimmed. Only the holograms and the bright lights around the original mining site outside provided any significant light at all. 

Beside him a hologram of an ancient drill used in the mines flickered on and off. In fact a number of the holoimages tended flicker on and off. The displays couldn't all be that old, he thought when he noted a hologramme of an early minor flicker in and out beside the circular door that lead to the ancient mining tunnels. Thetos frowned. And then his eyes went wide and his antennae straightened.

"Dr Nguyen!" called Thetos when the doctor emerged from her meeting, before Diaz could ask her any questions. 

"The holoimages on display, does the tantalum from the mines interfere in their projections?"

Nguyen looked surprised by the question. Behind her Diaz was frowning too, equally confused. "Yes," said Nguyen. "We debated putting in some kind of protected lining, but there's no way to stop it completely so we didn't bother."

Thetos nodded and made sure to school himself. He still wasn't entirely sure his hypothesis was correct. "Does the tantalum ever displace the holoimages? Rather than simply cause them to flicker?"

"Not very often, but it happens," said Nguyen. "Sometimes we'll find that mining drill halfway across the room, but it only lasts a couple minutes."

Thetos saw Diaz' eyes go wide as she pieced together what he was getting at. "But if you were closer to the tanatalum, it could throw the holoimages off more, say even make them appear on Luna's surface."

"I mean you'd have to be right in the mines for a displacement that large," said Nguyen. "But yes, I suppose so."

"I believe I've just figured out your astral projections," Thetos said to Diaz. "And I believe I may know where Taylor is. Contact Starfleet command, we're going to need a search warrant for all of Lunaris' transporter records. We're also going to need an arrest warrant for Dr Alexander Callaghan, on charges of kidnapping and obstruction of justice."

Things began to happen very quickly after that. Less than ten minutes later the Orpheus colony was swarming with Starfleet officers. The records were quickly seized and Alexander Callaghan was arrested as he, completely unaware as to what was going on, heading for his office at Lunaris Tech at 1900h.

"Rather late for working isn't it?" asked Thetos, not bothering to keep the smugness from his tone. "Dr Alexander Callaghan, you are under arrest for kidnapping your son and for obstructing a federation investigation. You have the right to remain silent. You will be assigned a federation attorney upon processing--"

"This is ridiculous," Callaghan interrupted him, fighting the two starfleet officers who had him handcuffed to escort him back to Earth. "Why would I kidnap my own son!?"

"I did wonder about that," admitted Thetos. "And then I remembered Dr Nguyen talking about her plans to move back to Earth. Somewhere you weren't willing to follow. You said it yourself, Lunaris Tech is your dream job. Relocating to Earth was an unacceptable outcome to you. So you took matters into your own hands."

"Conjecture, pure conjecture," said Callaghan. 

"Yes, I agree," said Thetos. "But I believe before this night is over, we will have all the evidence we need. I believe you panicked when Dr Nguyen told you she planned to relocate to Earth. Afraid of having to choose between your son and your job, you quickly hatched a plan. I believe you still had Dr Nguyen's access codes from when you were still married. From there you used the codes to find a suitable area in the old mining shafts to build a base.

"The Europium mineshaft must have been perfect for you. The unpurified Tantalum, still rich within the mines, masked your activity nicely. From there, you began using Lunaris Tech's resources to construct your base. At the very least you built a functional holodeck and transporter from within the base. Not something most are capable of, but as one of the senior engineers at one of the top Tech firms in the system, it would have been well within your capabilities. 

"At first I misconstrued your obvious exhaustion as the logical result of a father concerned about the whereabouts of his missing son. But that's not the case, is it? In fact, working a job as demanding as the one you have at Lunaris Tech combined with the work hours of building an entire functioning holodeck from scratch in the mines, you must be exhausted, Dr Callaghan."

Thetos paused to allow a statement from Callaghan. But Callaghan gave him nothing, glaring hard at him instead.

Thetos continued with his theory. "In the height of irony, you created a holoprogramme to look like a garden on Earth. The very place you were afraid Taylor would leave you for. Unfortunately your job still takes up quite a bit of time, you were concerned for Taylor, that he'd be alone most of the time. Perhaps even that he'd be lonely. So before you took Taylor you took his friends. 52 hours is enough time for a holodeck to observe someone and make a fairly decent approximation of them for a hologramme. When we interviewed Joshua he mentioned all the children who had been taken before him were with him in this garden. All hologrammes of course. 

"Now this is your plan to create a holodeck within the ancient mineshaft backfired. You can't block out the effects of the unpurified tantalum. Not entirely. A handful of times the holographic transmitters were interrupted, displaying the holoimages of the children you were collecting data for. Occasionally even resulting in seeing those holograms running across the barren lunar surface."

"Fiction!" yelled Callaghan. "You have no proof of any of this!"

"No, but I soon will," said Thetos, smiling as he noticed Diaz walking out with the other starfleet officers who'd gone in to Lunaris Tech with a search warrant. "Because while I believe you used Dr Nguyen's access code the first time you went into the mineshaft to create a base, there was no possible way for you continue travelling down there unnoticed through the museum, especially with the equipment you would need. Which means you likely used the transporter system at Lunaris until you could get a proper one working in the mines. Of which there would be both a transport log and sensor record."

Diaz handed Thetos the data PADD with the data they'd seized, and Thetos was elated to see the information he'd expected. "Which should lead us directly to your holodeck and, of course, Taylor."

Thetos looked up to see Callaghan's face had gone pale. 

"One thing I don't understand," said Thetos seriously. "You had shared custody, Dr Nguyen said you were a good father, why not simply take this issue to the courts? Why resort to kidnapping?"

"No court would take my side. Who would a judge choose? The workaholic father or the mother who gave up her career to spend more time with her kid. And it was all Taylor would talk about since An brought it up, the idea of living on Earth and playing in the grass under the sky." Callaghan was looking manic in his anger, spitting as he explained it all. 

"I gave him that!" cried Callaghan. "I gave him blue skies and grass to run around in, and I did it without having to lose him. I did it for him!" 

"At the expense of Dr Nguyen," Thetos pointed out. "And at the expense of Taylor. He was going to grow up in that holodeck. How were you going to handle that?"

Perhaps Callaghan did have a plan in place for when that happened, or perhaps not. Either way he seemed to be done talking to Thetos as he turned his head and refused to say any more. 

"Get him out of here," said Diaz. "We have our confession, we don't need him anymore."

Thetos and Diaz stayed long enough to locate Taylor and make sure he was safe. They opted to bring Nguyen with them to the holodeck, and marvelled at beautiful gardens they beamed into. Thetos had to admit Callaghan was an expert craftsman. He briefly saw a tree flicker in the distance, otherwise he never would have known he wasn't back on Earth.

They found Taylor relatively quickly, playing tag with the other holographic children. His eyes widened when he saw Nguyen though, breaking off from the others and running top speed into her arms, "Mooooom!"

It was obvious they'd both missed each other, though Thetos knew the challenges weren't quite over for them yet. After they were finished here, Nguyen was going to have to take Taylor home and explain why his father had been arrested. 

For the moment though...

"Mom, mom!" Taylor yelled breaking off from her. "Look, I can do a cartwheel!"

"You know," said Diaz quietly while they watched the two of them play in the grass, "You did pretty good for your first mission. You didn't dismiss anything you didn't understand, pieced it all together in the end. Not bad at all. It's too bad you're not staying, I think you probably could have hacked it here."

Thetos was surprised when he felt a pang of regret at Diaz's words.

Thetos squinted from the early morning sun coming in through the office windows at Starfleet command. It was his second time here in as many days, and he was surprised how they different it felt, how different he felt, when so little time had passed.

Admiral Krell did not look happy to see him, though one wondered if Krell ever looked happy to see anyone. 

"I was just wondering how my transfer application was coming along," he asked. 

Krell looked unimpressed, "As I said yesterday, Lieutenant, it will be at least a few days, other departments need to find an opening."

"Actually, sir," said Thetos, gathering up his courage, "I was wondering if maybe I could stay with Section 13 a bit longer. Give it a proper try-out."

Krell gave Thetos the fish-eye. "What happened to not wanting to chase monsters in transporter beams?"

Thetos felt his antennae burn orange in embarrassment. "I suppose I discovered that perhaps chasing monsters in transporter beams can actually be rather interesting," he confessed. 

Krell let out long suffering sigh. "Fine," she said, "go. Just be grateful I already have a hard enough time staffing that department."

Thetos' antennae raised up elated. "Thank you, sir." And then quickly left before she could change her mind.

Krell grumbled as she dug out her data PADD. Finally she found the transfer request, still unsent and unprocessed. She couldn't help a small smile that crept across her lips as she deleted it.

**Author's Note:**

> Some recent art I did of Thetos and Alondra. :3


End file.
